Frank Nitti

Suddenly the fellow raised himself into a sitting position, put the gun to his head, and pulled the trigger. There was a shot and the man fell back against the fence. I said to Seebauer, `Well, he did it this time. . . .` " You have just read an eye-witness account of how Frank Nitti, the man who succeeded Al Capone as head of the Chicago criminal empire, really died. He was not thrown off the roof of a downtown building by Eliot Ness, as portrayed in Brian De Palma's $20 million production of...

Al Capone was a scourge of the city of Chicago. The brutal gangster controlled not only many illegal enterprises, namely beer and booze, but also influenced the legal ones through bribes and threats. It took the full weight and power of the federal government, working on multiple fronts, to bring him to justice. No one man took down Al Capone. On Dec. 18, Flashback focused on Chicago Crime Commission chief Frank Loesch and his efforts to turn the public sentiment against Public...

Eugene Williams, a black child stoned to death in 1919 by gangs for swimming into a white neighborhood, would probably not paint as favorable a picture of the past as Bob Greene does in his Oct. 10 column. Nor would the nearly 40 children who died in the ensuing violence. Frank Nitti and Al Capone may never have killed children, but those early gangs did. Condemning the violence of the present, as Greene's column does, is laudable. Brushing over the violence of the past, as the column also does, is not.

QUESTIONS: 1) James Gandolfini and Edie Falco are back as HBO's mob saga, "The Sopranos," begins its final run of new episodes Sunday, April 8. On the classic series "The Untouchables," which gangster did actor Bruce Gordon frequently play? 2) Name the Oscar-winning co-writer and director of "Crash" who co-created this season's NBC series "The Black Donnellys." 3) Who played the gangsterlike villain Louie the Lilac on the 1960s "Batman" series? 4) Name the underworld-spoofing 1971 sitcom that starred...

Al Capone was a scourge of the city of Chicago. The brutal gangster controlled not only many illegal enterprises, namely beer and booze, but also influenced the legal ones through bribes and threats. It took the full weight and power of the federal government, working on multiple fronts, to bring him to justice. No one man took down Al Capone. On Dec. 18, Flashback focused on Chicago Crime Commission chief Frank Loesch and his efforts to turn the public sentiment against Public...

It felt strange giving a history lesson to a potential mayoral candidate about the Chicago Outfit and Chicago politics. And I probably should have kept my mouth shut. But when did that ever happen? U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, the Chicago Democrat, and I were talking politics over the phone Wednesday. He explained the importance of coalitions and how other Chicago mayors have put such coalitions together. "If I don't organize Latinos, who will?" he said. "How do I challenge...

They're back. A pair of TV programs are back in town shooting episodes for the fall season. Literally shooting, in the case of "The Untouchables," which stars Tom Amandes as Eliot Ness and Paul Regina as Frank Nitti. Daniel J. Travanti may also be running through the streets. He plays the head lieutenant in the missing persons unit of the Chicago Police Department in the ABC-TV series appropriately called "Missing Persons." Seeing stars A downright slim Oprah Winfrey...

Is Al Capone's henchman Frank Nitti famous or just notorious, and should the distinction be made? The Riverside Preservation Commission believes it should. It voted 8-1 last week to recommend against giving historical status to Nitti's former home. The Riverside Village Board has final say, and the item is on the agenda of a committee of the whole meeting this week. The request for historical status was made by Carole Kosla, who bought the 10-room house on Selbourne Road in 1986...

Is Al Capone's henchman Frank Nitti famous or just notorious, and should the distinction be made? The Riverside Preservation Commission believes it should. It voted 8-1 last week to recommend against giving historical status to Nitti's former home. The Riverside Village Board has final say, and the item is on the agenda of a committee of the whole meeting this week. The request for historical status was made by Carole Kosla, who bought the 10-room house on Selbourne Road in 1986...

1. "The Ten Commandments" (Cecil B. DeMille; 1956) (star)(star)(star)(star) One of the greatest Biblical epics is embroidered with more than a few Hollywood "improvements." DeMille inserts a romance between Moses (Charlton Heston) and the Egyptian princess Nefretiri (Anne Baxter), though it is never mentioned in the Old Testament. Later, when Moses spurns her, this provides a "woman scorned" subplot that's more soap opera than scripture. 2. "The Untouchables" (Brian De Palma; 1987)

QUESTIONS: 1) James Gandolfini and Edie Falco are back as HBO's mob saga, "The Sopranos," begins its final run of new episodes Sunday, April 8. On the classic series "The Untouchables," which gangster did actor Bruce Gordon frequently play? 2) Name the Oscar-winning co-writer and director of "Crash" who co-created this season's NBC series "The Black Donnellys." 3) Who played the gangsterlike villain Louie the Lilac on the 1960s "Batman" series? 4) Name the underworld-spoofing 1971 sitcom that starred...

Police in the Town Hall district knew Lawrence Herron as a cocaine dealer who plied his illicit trade near Truman College in Uptown. On the street he was known as "Nitti," an apparent reference to Al Capone's enforcer, Frank Nitti. On Monday, Herron, whose 280-pound frame was easily noticed on the street, was shot and killed by police after two officers interrupted an alleged drug deal between Herron and another man in the lobby of a building at 3933 N. Clarendon Ave. ...

By Bob Skilnik, Author, "The History of Beer and Brewing in Chicago, 1833-1978." | December 27, 1999

As a kid growing up in the predominantly Irish neighborhood of Bridgeport during the 1950s and early '60s, there were two distinctive smells I'll always remember--the putrid fumes of the nearby Chicago Union Stockyards, especially during the rainy spring and hot, humid days of late July and August, and the balancing sweet malt aroma from our neighborhood breweries. We lived just blocks away from both, and the aroma of the breweries was, understandably, more appealing. My summer Sundays often started with...

By Bob Skilnik, Author, "The History of Beer and Brewing in Chicago, 1833-1978." | December 27, 1999

As a kid growing up in the predominantly Irish neighborhood of Bridgeport during the 1950s and early '60s, there were two distinctive smells I'll always remember--the putrid fumes of the nearby Chicago Union Stockyards, especially during the rainy spring and hot, humid days of late July and August, and the balancing sweet malt aroma from our neighborhood breweries. We lived just blocks away from both, and the aroma of the breweries was, understandably, more appealing. My summer Sundays often started with...

Eugene Williams, a black child stoned to death in 1919 by gangs for swimming into a white neighborhood, would probably not paint as favorable a picture of the past as Bob Greene does in his Oct. 10 column. Nor would the nearly 40 children who died in the ensuing violence. Frank Nitti and Al Capone may never have killed children, but those early gangs did. Condemning the violence of the present, as Greene's column does, is laudable. Brushing over the violence of the past, as the column also does, is not.

1. "The Ten Commandments" (Cecil B. DeMille; 1956) (star)(star)(star)(star) One of the greatest Biblical epics is embroidered with more than a few Hollywood "improvements." DeMille inserts a romance between Moses (Charlton Heston) and the Egyptian princess Nefretiri (Anne Baxter), though it is never mentioned in the Old Testament. Later, when Moses spurns her, this provides a "woman scorned" subplot that's more soap opera than scripture. 2. "The Untouchables" (Brian De Palma; 1987)

Al Capone, were he alive, most likely would be sickened by what is going on in Chicago today--and probably would ask how we ever became so immoral. Frank Nitti would be ashamed of us--unable to understand how a city could sink to this level. Eliot Ness? He would be the most disgusted of all. If he and the Untouchables could accomplish what they accomplished--if they could have rid Chicago of Capone and Nitti and the murderous gangsters of that era--then what in the name of everything...

This was the year that wasn`t. For 22 weeks, the Writers Guild of America took a hike, thus forcing television-viewing types to seek out such alternate entertainment as reading books and acknowledging their children. The year brought violence and perversion, District of Columbia debauchery, Central American craziness, crypto-fascism, conspiracies and cover-ups, blackmail, kinkiness, sadism, altered autopsies, AIDS-virus injections, vomiting, pornographic photos, suicide-on-camera, red herrings, black hats...

They're back. A pair of TV programs are back in town shooting episodes for the fall season. Literally shooting, in the case of "The Untouchables," which stars Tom Amandes as Eliot Ness and Paul Regina as Frank Nitti. Daniel J. Travanti may also be running through the streets. He plays the head lieutenant in the missing persons unit of the Chicago Police Department in the ABC-TV series appropriately called "Missing Persons." Seeing stars A downright slim Oprah Winfrey...